


Heading North

by FiKate



Category: X-Men (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Hitchhiking, Pre-Canon, Sexual Assault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-30
Updated: 2013-08-30
Packaged: 2017-12-25 01:57:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/947264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiKate/pseuds/FiKate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for ineedmyfics 2013 and the prompt was Rogue any time before meeting Wolverine which got me thinking about her time on the road. </p>
<p>This is the story of two days she spent hitchhiking on road north with all its inherent dangers. Warning for sexual assault in the form of a forced kiss and references to other not described times. I hope that you like it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heading North

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Raynidreams](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raynidreams/gifts).



His skin went cold as he kissed her and when she felt him grow limp, she slipped out from his grasp and got the truck door open as she muttered, “I told you that I wasn’t goin’ to do nothin’ more than I wanted to. You’re just damn lucky, you didn’t try anythin’ more than a kiss.” 

She hated hitchhiking before she could kill a man with a kiss but it was the best way to travel without anyone finding her. It just meant she had to be even more careful because every truck driver wanted something and she was willing to make their lives a little colder if she could get farther down the road. At least it wasn’t snowing and he’d stayed on a highway, this was Michigan, she’d seen it on the signs. According to them there was an exit within the next few miles and she was good at walking. The sun would be coming up soon and there was bound to be a gas station where she could sit and get something cheap and warm until she figured out where to go next. Enough times like this and the truckers would stop carrying her and start warning about her but she wouldn’t worry about that until it happened, though she didn’t expect it to. None of them would want to admit that a sweet looking girl had made them feel like they were dying and none of them had died yet.

It wasn’t going to come to that, it wasn’t, if she just kept on the road long enough then she’d figure out how to handle whatever it was that was wrong with her or she’d be too far away from what’d she’d done for it to matter. Every time she made one of those drivers with their roaming hands turn cold, she was doing something that was almost good. Maybe they would think twice about trying their tricks on another girl, that would be due to her.

The exit was a twisty mess of streets that she dashed across before ending up in a diner called Coney Island with a yellow sign that looked as worn out as she felt. Inside looked the same as too many diners she’d seen along the road but it was warm and she could afford it. The hostess gave her a look over then a curt nod along with a menu which Rogue took and sat down in a booth near the heaters. She had her order down because these places didn’t change that much, bowl of chili, grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of coffee. By the time she’d hit Ohio after going west and north, she’d found it was about what she could afford and if she couldn’t then she usually made a little more money cleaning dishes, more if a woman owned the diner. They’d wonder about her story because she knew she looked too pretty to be hitchhiking, but then they didn’t know what was behind her, that she was a murderer. All they saw was a sweet talking girl who was trying to get away from something and the nice ones never asked a lot of questions, when a man was in charge it got tricky, they liked their questions and testing her like the truck drivers. When her food came the hostess gave her jacket a considering gaze, “That’s a nice coat. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one like it.” 

She made her smile all sweetness and her accent as slow and heavy as she could, “Thank you, ma’am, my grandma made it for me, said the green did fine things to my eyes.”

“It does. What’s brought you all the way north?” 

“One of my brothers got a job working for Ford and told me that it would all be easier up here though kind of colder. He wasn’t lying about that.” 

“Let me get you some more coffee and I know about Ford, they’re good people,” Then she went off with a smile as Rogue enjoyed the warmth of the chili, it didn’t have the deep heat it needed but it would do. With the new coffee, her hostess also brought a slice of cherry pie, “Fresh made today and this one’s all messy, it won’t be missed. Now have you got a place to stay tonight?”

Rogue looked the woman over, she seemed kind but tired like everyone who worked at a roadside diner, her hair probably was neat an hour ago, now it was spiraling out. Absently Rogue patted her own hair that was in a loose braid that she’d set somewhere, she couldn’t remember how many hours ago, “Don’t have much money. My brother tried to send me some but he’s bad with it, he meant to send me some but always takes too much on.”

“I’ve got an uncle like that, well meaning man but he gets thinking and when he means to go to Jackson ends up halfway to Detroit because he starting wondering on something and goes the wrong way. I’ve a room here you can use then tomorrow I’ll drop you at the bus station and soon you’ll see your brother.” 

“Could I help you out today? I know how to clean.” 

“I wouldn’t mind another pair of hands, finish your food and we’ll see what we can do.” 

She nodded and didn’t rush her food but was done quickly before going into the kitchen and helping to make sandwiches. By the time it was dark out, which happened quicker than she expected, she was tired. Maddie who ran and owned the diner came to find her. There was a couch and she slept safe for the first time since that kiss when she tasted and felt the energy that was someone else’s life. 

In the morning, she helped with the early hours’ rush and Maddie drove her to the bus station with the cash pressed in her hand, she even had enough to cross the border. Canada was north and farther away, it was going to get colder but maybe she might even be warm up there.


End file.
